


Love me, please?

by hoeziertozier



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Boys being gay and dumb, First Kiss, First Love, Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, Mild Angst, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, another soulmate au because why not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-20
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-03-21 16:12:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13744596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hoeziertozier/pseuds/hoeziertozier
Summary: Everyone has a mark on their body from birth that only they can see. It becomes visible to their soulmate once they fall in love with them. This means that you can love a number of people in your life, but only one of them is your soulmate.So even though everything might be set in stone from the beginning, at least you still get to experience the whole ride of falling in love, and the heartbreak that comes with it being the wrong the person. But he was Richie Tozier, and the universe was never on his side.Also posted to my tumblr: hoeziertozier





	Love me, please?

Soulmates exist. Every single person on the planet has a soulmate, romantic or platonic. It is all cut and dried from the beginning. Maybe it’s a scam, and fate can’t rule us, but it’s nice to know that someone out there will love you, no matter what.

At least that’s what Richie Tozier felt. Until he fell in love with his soulmate.

Everyone has a mark on their body from birth that only they can see. It becomes visible to their soulmate once they fall in love with them. This means that you can love a number of people in your life, but only one of them is your soulmate. So even though everything might be set in stone from the beginning, at least you still get to experience the whole ride of falling in love, and the heartbreak that comes with it being the wrong the person.

But he was Richie Tozier, and since the universe was never on his side, he just had to see little pair of glasses on the back of Eddie Kaspbrak’s neck when the latter’s lips were pressed against another boy’s in the middle of the corridor, surrounded by thousands of noisy high school kids.

Now here’s the deal. Richie knew the small fanny-pack wearing asthmatic was his soulmate the moment he met him. Not just because of the tattoo on his lower back, but also because of the way he grabbed his attention. He loved his wide brown eyes and his soft chocolate hair. He loved his cute polo shirts and his adorable red short shorts. He loved his snappy attitude. Eddie was a little ball of rage, and ten-year-old Richie couldn’t help himself. He wasn’t in love yet, but he knew he’d get there. Eddie was, after all, the one.

As the years went on, Richie’s feelings for the boy just got stronger. His cheeks went red every time they made contact. The butterflies in his belly fluttered every time Eddie rolled his eyes at his jokes. He got jealous when Eddie decided to cuddle with Bill instead of him on movie nights. His heart did a complete gymnastic routine when Eddie’s ears turned red at every nickname he had for him.

Eddie Kaspbrak was his best friend, his soulmate. And now, five years after the first sign, he was the boy Richie Tozier absolutely in love with.

Richie’s crush on Eddie wasn’t actually a secret, because being subtle wasn’t exactly his forte. He’d touch Eddie at every chance he got, he get into the hypochondriac’s personal space, he wouldn’t hesitate to press a sloppy kiss against his cheek, and he wouldn’t stop calling him cute. All the losers knew this. Well, all the losers, except Eddie, of course, since he was too busy kissing another boy in the corridor.

And then it hit Richie like a truck. Eddie was his soulmate, but he wasn’t his.

The universe must really hate Richie Tozier to pull that kind of a dick move on him. Fate was a bitch.

“Earth to Tozier.”

“Huh?” Richie was snapped back to reality by Stan’s hand waving in front of his face.

“You okay?”

He nodded. “Of course, Stan the Man! It’s a fine day!”

“I’m guessing Eddie didn’t tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

“He’s dating Brandon.” Stan pointed his chin towards the couple, still making out in the hallway. It made Richie sick to his stomach.

“Obviously he didn’t. Since when?” He turned to look at Stan.

“A couple of weeks.”

“Why didn’t he tell me?”

“I told him not to.” Stan didn’t look apologetic at all.

“Stan, it’s not your place to make those kind of decisions for him!” He wasn’t annoyed though, he knew Stan had done it for his own good.

“I know how you feel about him, Richie. I knew if he told you, you’d be broken and push him away. And that would hurt him, because he wouldn’t know what he did wrong.”

Richie snorted. “And this is any better?”

Stan sighed. “Look, in all honesty, I was hoping it would end before you found out. But I guess not.”

“It doesn’t matter. At least now I don’t need to feel guilty for banging his mom.”

“Richie, it’s okay to feel hurt. You have a crush on him, you can show emotions.”

“It’s not just a crush,” said Richie quietly.

“Then what is it?”

He turned to look at Eddie and his boyfriend again. They’d stopped making out and were resting their foreheads against each other. They looked really happy. “He’s my soulmate, Stanley.”

Stan’s jaw dropped. “Are you sure?”

“I can see his mark. It’s a pair of glasses on the back of his neck.”

Stan turned to look at Eddie. “I can’t see anything, so I guess you must be right.”

Richie turned to his locker and busied himself. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not his.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Because he’s never mentioned seeing mine! It’s on my lower back, and every time we go to the quarry for a swim, he should bring it up. But he doesn’t. He doesn’t love me.”

“Yet.”

Richie rolled his eyes. “And he won’t. At least not when he’s making heart-eyes at whatever his name is.”

Stan shrugged. “Give him time. It’s like Ben and Bev. It took her more than a year to realise she loved Ben back. Besides, we haven’t gone to the quarry in like a year. Maybe he already likes you but hasn’t seen the mark yet.”

Richie sighed. “Who cares, right? Soulmates are bullshit anyway.”

Stan looked at him with sympathy. “I’m sorry, Rich.”

He shook his head. “Don’t be, Stan the Man. Now come on, let’s go meet Eddie’s new man!”

Richie walked up to Eddie and slung his arm around him.

“Eds, my man!” He pinched his cheek.

Eddie squirmed under his touch. “Don’t call me that.”

Richie ignored him. He turned to the boy in front of them. “And who might this lovely gentleman be, who had the honour of  kissing my cute little Spaghetti?”

“Hi, I’m Brandon.” He had a low gruff voice that sounded like the leader of a biker gang. He was tall, well built and really handsome. Richie could see why Eddie liked him.

He took his hand and shook it. “I’m Richie. You father-in-law.”

“Beep, beep, Richie.” Eddie pushed him away. “We need to go now.”

He took Brandon’s hand and led him towards their classroom. He turned around to glare at Richie. Richie just smirked back in response.

“Well, that went well,” said Stan, joining him.

“Spectacular.”

The two walked to their classroom quietly. Richie was surprisingly not in the mood to say anything. He couldn’t stop thinking about Eddie, and how his lips would look so much better against his. He couldn’t stop thinking about those wide brown eyes looking at someone else with such love. He couldn’t stop thinking about the glasses on his neck. His lower back tingled, but it didn’t matter. That stupid mark was a lie.

Even at lunch, the losers were surprised at how quiet he was. They figured he must’ve seen Eddie and Brandon, so they left him alone. Stan hadn’t told them about the soulmate thing though. That was between them.

Eddie wasn’t at their table that day. He sat Brandon and his friends, his back towards the losers. Richie couldn’t stop staring at the mark. It’s like it was mocking him.

“Richie, if you stare any harder, you’ll burn a hole in his head.” Beverly looked at him sadly. He rolled his eyes. “Can’t I admire my little Eddie Spaghetti being happy?”

“You weren’t admiring,” said Mike. “You were staring.”

“Gazing.”

“Staring,” said Ben. “Like a creep.”

“It’s not creepy! It’s romantic.”

“I-it’s creepy. And B-Brandon noticed.” Bill turned his head towards Eddie’s table. Brandon had his arm around Eddie’s shoulder and was giving Richie a dirty look. He slowly leaned forward and gave Eddie a peck on the cheek, not breaking eye contact with Richie. He felt like he was going to hurl.

He stood up. “I’m gonna take a leak.”

Before anyone could stop him, he was out of the doors.

***

Eddie really did like Brandon. He was handsome, sweet, kind. He was an amazing person all around. Even his mother approved of him, even though she didn’t believe he was actually dating him. There was only one problem.

Eddie Kaspbrak liked his boyfriend. He just didn’t love him.

He knew Brandon wasn’t his soulmate the moment he met him. For starters, he didn’t wear glasses. At all. But he didn’t feel that spark with him. When he was around him, he didn’t feel the butterflies. Fireworks didn’t explode when he kissed him. Being with him was boring, really.

If he was being honest with himself, he had no idea why he was dating him.  Maybe he liked the attention. Maybe he was tired of being lonely. Maybe he had to get over the boy he actually loved.

Eddie, no matter how hard he tried, couldn’t push away his feelings for his best friend. That tall, lanky curly haired menace was making him feel things he didn’t know he could feel. His huge brown eyes, magnified a thousand times by his ridiculous coke-bottle glasses that had been taped up too many times, were captivating. His horrible sense of humour and his even worse impressions were his favourite thing in the world. Richie Tozier was his favourite person in the world. But Eddie wasn’t his soulmate. He knew that.

He’d been in love with Richie for a year now, yet he hadn’t seen a mark on his body. Once when they were twelve, Eddie had asked him were his mark was, and he’s said it was on his elbow. But Richie’s elbows were blank. So he couldn’t have been his soulmate. It was that simple really. But it still hurt.

So he turned his attention elsewhere. He felt horrible for using someone like this, but Brandon was someone he could love. And his 20/20 vision could change, who knows.

Eddie had been dating Brandon for almost two months now, but his feelings towards Richie hadn’t changed. And as sat on Richie’s bed, playing with his curls, watching Ferris Bueller’s Day Off for the thousandth time, he knew weren’t going away anytime soon. He really wanted to tell Richie how he felt. But he couldn’t. Richie still had to find his soulmate, and Eddie couldn’t take that away from him.

As the credits rolled in, Eddie looked at his watch. They were supposed to meet the others at the Barrens in twenty minutes.

“Come on, Richie,” said Eddie, “we should leave for the Barrens.”

Richie sighed and got up. Eddie secretly whined at the loss of contact.

“Fine, let me change my shirt.”

As he pulled his t-shirt over his head, Eddie’s jaw dropped. Richie was rambling on about this hot girl in his history class, but Eddie zoned out. He was too busy staring at the small black mark on Richie’s lower back.

_A fucking fanny-pack._

Suddenly his throat went dry and he was pretty sure he stopped breathing.

Richie Tozier’s soulmate mark was a fanny-pack. And Eddie Kaspbrak could see it.

“Anyway, she’s got the nicest butt, Eds. you should really see it.” He turned around to see Eddie staring at him with wide eyes and an open mouth.

“Come on, Eds. I know I’m hot, you don’t have to make obvious by staring.”

Eddie swallowed. “You said it was on your elbow.”

“What?”

“Your mark. You said it was on your elbow. Why’d you lie?”

Richie’s eyes went wide now. “You can see it?”

“Yeah, but that’s not point.”

“That’s exactly the point!” He threw his hands up in the air and smiled widely. “I’m your soulmate, Eddie Spaghetti, and you’re mine.”

“That’s not my name,” he snapped. “And how do you know you’re my soulmate?”

“The glasses. On the back of your neck.”

“You can see it? Since when?”

“A couple of months ago.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“You were with Brandon! I didn’t want to ruin that. Plus I didn’t think you felt the same way.”

Eddie rubbed his temples. “Good lord, Richie, you’re so fucking stupid. I do feel the same way you idiot.”

Richie pouted but it wasn’t genuine. “Well I know that now.”

Eddie stood up and stepped closer to Richie. “A fanny-pack. How obvious.”

Richie laughed. “Yeah, I knew it was you the day I saw you stuffing your inhaler into your fanny pack when we were ten.”

“You never said anything.”

“I wanted to fall in love.”

Eddie was smiling so hard his jaw hurt. “And you did.”

“And I did.”

“You love me,” Eddie teased.

“Hey, you love me.”

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

Slowly they closed the gap between them. It wasn’t perfect, it was far from perfect actually. His lips completely missed the mark and pressed against Richie’s chin. Once they adjusted, it was a little better but not the best. Richie’s lips were chapped against his. The kiss was too dry. Their teeth clashed. But Eddie felt fireworks explode behind him, and that’s all that mattered.

Eddie wrapped his arms around Richie’s waist and rubbed his fingers over the mark on his back. Richie put his arms around his neck and did the same  Eddie stood up on his toes to kiss Richie better. They deepened the kiss and Eddie felt himself melt into Richie’s arms. He felt like he belonged there. Richie’s arms were his home. He didn’t want to be anywhere else.

After what seemed like hours, they pulled apart. Eddie rubbed his thumb across Richie’s cheek and gazed at his soulmate lovingly. Richie’s lips were slightly swollen and he had a lopsided grin on his face.

Richie pulled Eddie into a hug and kissed his forehead.

“There’s only problem now.”

“What?”

“I’m going to have to break up with your mom. She’s going to be heartbroken when she finds out I'm—”

“Beep, beep, Richie.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos and comments!
> 
> hoeziertozier.tumblr.com


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